Alison Appleton

Background

Appleton has a degree in printed textile design from Liverpool College of Art and established her studio in 1998. In 2001, when approached to design plates for a factory in Portugal, she spent time with the mould makers there and found her real design passion was in creating form, rather than pattern. Her work went on to retail in Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Debenhams, Zara Home, Crate & Barrel, Anthropologie and others. She then worked with La Cafetiere, a British tea and coffee ware company, based in North Wales, where she designed a range of products, including the Lexi cafetiere and California teapot. In 2014, Appleton is still one of two designer brands (along with Nick Munro) for the company. She met ceramics agent Sidney Huang at a trade fair in China and after that meeting, began to work almost exclusively on tea ware.

Appleton has been retailing her collection of tea pots, tea cups, tea towels and speciality teas under her own brand since 2012. She works closely with partners in Dehua in China, the home of Blanc de Chine porcelain. Mr Liu, an expert ceramicist, creates glazes and experiments with different types of clay in line with her requirements and designs are translated into three dimensions by master mould maker Su Kun Shui.

In 2013 she picked up the Innovation award at Merseyside Woman of the Year for her work in establishing international trade. She gave tea making demonstrations at the Cake and Bake Show in Manchester in 2014 and visits trade and exhibitor fairs all over the world, including Maison et Objet in Paris, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York and Ambiente in Frankfurt.

The blenders at English tea importer and retailer Twinings recently invited her to help them create an Alison Appleton Single Origin tea blend. In November 2014, Appleton was appointed an Export Champion by UK Trade and Investment, and will work with the Government trade body to help more British companies up onto the export ladder.

Products

Appleton says that the practicalities of making a really good cup of tea are the key to her design philosophy. Her stated view is: "A good cup of tea should be something to take time over and savour. Good tea and tea ware should be a gift, either to oneself or to others." She once told an audience at the Women in Business awards that a lady's teapot should always match her dress.

Appleton says that her fascination with oriental design and culture of tea is reflected in her collections. The Darcy teaset is inspired by the Regency fashion for chinoiserie and a time when drinking afternoon tea was an important social occasion. Its teapot was featured in the Independent's Ten Best Teapots in July 2013. The Golden Carp set takes its inspiration from the carp and lotus flower, Chinese symbols of good fortune and purity. The two are featured as a relief design under a celadon glaze. The Camellia teapot is inspired by the flowers of Camellia Sinensis, the plant from China which gives us tea, and the Woodland collection is evocative of fairy-tale forests. Her view is that: "Every day should include a tea ceremony. Life's too short for ugly mugs and dusty teabags," has resulted in all her teapots including stainless steel fine-mesh filters, so they can be used with fine and long leafed teas.

Her products can be seen in shops and online retailers including Harrods, Whittards, Twinings, the British Museum and Not on the High Street. They have also been featured in British newspapers such as the Daily Mail, Sunday Express, Sunday Times and Yorkshire Post; and in magazines including Ideal Home, Good Homes, Bella, Shortlist, The English Home, House Beautiful, Beautiful Kitchens and Period Ideas.